Sharp County record., 1887-01-06
..,. - hssvsn, Astronomy surrend-

Christ; the solar system A = ~
worlds ablaze and worlds burned ouI-aii
worlds for Christ
Intensest microscope can not see the one
side of that domain. Further reaching tei-
escope can not find the other SIDE OF tnaU
domain, But will tell you how the uni
verse is bounded 1t is bounded on Tue
north and south and east and west ny
God, and that Gods Christ, and that Chrlst
is God. and that God is ours. o, does IL
not enlarge our ideas of Saviour uoullH-
ion when tell you that all the worlds are
only sparks struck from His anvil, that all
the worlds are only feecy locks following
the one Shepherd, that all the ISLANDS OF
light in immensity are one great archlpel*
go belonging 10 our king'
But this scene also impresses me WlIh
the fact that the wise men OF the East came
to Christ They were not fools; they were
not imbeciles. The record distinctly says
that the wise men came to Christ. we say
they were the magi or they were the al
chemists, or they were the astrologists,
and we say it with depreciatlng accentua,
ton. Why they were the most splendlu
and magnificent men Of the century; they
were the naturalists and the scientists; they
knew all that was known. You must re-
member that astrology was the mother OF
astronomy. and that alchemy was the
mother of chemistry, and because children
are brighter than the mother, you 40 noC
despise the mother
1t was the lifelong business OF these as
trologists to study the stars. Twenty-Five
hundred and fifty years before Christ was
born the wise men knew the procession OF
the equinoxes, and they had calculated the
orbit and return of the comets. Prof
Smith declares that he thinks they knew
the distance of the earth from the sun. we
find in the book of Job that the men OF
olden time did not suppose the world was
fiat, as some have said but he knew, and
the men of his time knew, the world was
globular. The Pyramids were built Tor
astrological and astronomical study.
Then the alchemsts spent their lives in
the study of metals, and gases, and liquids,
and solids, and in filling the worlds libra
res with their discoveries. They were
vastly wise men who came to the East.
They understood embalment as our most
scientific men can not understand it, After
the world has gone on studying hun
dreds of years itmay cOmeup to that point
where the ancients began to forget. l be-
lieve the lost arts are as mighty as the IiY-
ing arts.
They were wise men that came from the
East, and tradition says the three wisest
came-Casper, young man; Balthazar,
man in mid-life, and MelchiOr, an octo-
genarian; the three wise5t men Of all the
century, They came to the manger Who
was the greatest metaphysician this coun-
try has ever produced! JOhnathan Ed
wards, the Christian. Who was the
greatest astronomer of the world! Her
schel, the Christian. Who was the greatest
poet ever produced! John Milton, the
Christian Who was the wisest writer on
law! Blackstone, the Christian. Why is
it that every college and university in the
land has a chapel! They must have place
for the wise men to worship.
Come, now, let US understand in ounces
and by inches this whole matter. In post
mortem examination the brains Of distln-
guished men have been examined, and |
will find the largest, the heaviest, the
mightiest brain ever produced in America,
and 1 will ask what that brain thought of
Christ. There it is, tine brain weighing
sixty-three ounces, the largest brain ever
produced in America: Now. let. me, find
'Wfaf'that Drain th0ughtOf Christ In the
diving moment, that man said: Lord, /
believe; help Thou mine unbelief. What
ever else do, Almighty God, receive me
to Thyself for Christ's sake. This night l
shall be in life, and Joy, and blessedness."
So Daniel Webster came to the manger.
The wise men of the East followed by the
wise men of the West.
Know also in this scene that it was a
winter month that God chose for His sons
nativity. Had it been the month Of May
that is the season of blossoms. Had it been
the month Of June-that is the month Of
roses. Had it been in the month Of July
that is month Of great harvests. Had it
been in the month of eptember-thatls IS the
season of ripe orchards. Had it been in the
month of October-that is the season of up
holstered forests. But He was born in the
month of December, when there are no
flowers blooming out Of doors, and when
all the harvests that have not been gath
cred up have perished, and when there are
no fruits ripening on the hill, and when the
leaves are driGted over the bare earth.
lit was in closing December that He was
born, to show this is Christ for people in
sharp blast, for people under clouded sky,
for people with frosted hopes, for people
with thermometer below zero, for people
showed under. A December Christ! That
is the reason He is so often found among
the destitute. You can find Him on any
night coming off the moors-yOu can see
HIM any night coming through the dark
lanes Of the city-yOu can see Him putting
His hand under the fainting head in the
pauper's cabin. He remembers how the
wind whistled around the caravansary in
Bethlehem that December night, and He is
in sympathy with all those who in their
poverty hear the shutters clatter on cold
night.
1t was this December Christ that Wash
ington and his army WOrshiped at Valley
Forge, when, without blankets, they lay
down in the December snow. II was this
Christ that the Pilgrim Fathers appealed
to when the MayhoWer wharfcd at Ply
mouth Rock, and in the years that went by
the graves digged were more IN number
than the houses built. Oh, | tell you, we
want December Christ, not Christ for
fair weather, but Christ for dark days
clOuded with sickness, and chilling with
disappointment, and suffocating with be-
reavement and terrific with wide open
graves Not a spring-ti time Christ, not a
summer Christ, not an autumn Christ, but